Lying scumbag realtor...WTF moment #39
Ok so if you've been keeping track, the dream home is turning into a nightmare home. The inspection could have gone better. Or it could have gone worse had the electricity and water been turned on to inspect the electric, heating and plumbing.
So after avoiding the realtor all day Sunday and refusing to answer the phones at work lest he call me there, I had my Dad call the listing agent. Because, I hate to say it, but sometimes he's able to get further than I can because of my age and complete real world inexperience.
So he asked the listing agent (who is a customer of ours) if there's any way for the water/electricity to be turned on to complete the inspection. And Lucy, the agent, felt "uncomfortable" talking with my Dad and recommended we call the agent who showed me the house (John).
In the mean time, I trekked into the ghetto to Town Hall and paid $25 to run a search of the properties Certificates of Occupancy (permits needed in order to have work done on the house such as renovations or changes to the utilities like the plumbing etc.) There are COs for the back dormer and front dormer but none for the extension on the back of the house. This means that the seller probably did the work himself or hired someone who wasn't licensed to do it for him. Either way it means that a permit is needed to buy the house and I'd have to pay for it. And the biggest issue is that the town would send a building inspector to look at it and if it wasn't up to code then down it would have to go. That would include the 2nd kitchen as it is part of the extension. Also, there isn't a permit for the oil burner. Any time you move something like that you have to get a building permit from the town and have a licensed plumber/oil company do the work for you. There's no record of that, meaning there can be some pretty big violations as to whether or not the seller followed proper guidelines. Since the burner is located in the detached garage behind the house, pipes had to be laid underground. And they'd need to be at least four feet under to be below the frost line so the pipes wouldn't freeze up during the winter. Who knows what these people did?
So John the realtor calls while I'm at town hall and later again when I'm back at work. But I'm still 'not there' so I wait for him to call me cell and leave a message. He does. And so I call my Dad and ask him to call John back and bring up the missing permits and such.
John says that they sent someone to the town to get a list of permits (I don't believe that for a second), yet couldn't come up with an answer when my Dad says that I went as well and found there to be no CO for the extension or a permit for the oil burner. So he doesn't say anything very intelligent in response.
So then my dad brought up the issue with the turned off utilities. And John said something along the lines of 'the reason you're getting this house for such a great deal is BECAUSE the electricity and heat are turned off'.
WTF?!?! Great Deal?!? The house is listed for 299,000 and I offered 302,500. I might not have done well in math growing up but I DO know which of those two numbers is larger.
John said that IF the utilities were turned on then they'd have a lot more people interested in the house and the price would be much higher.
No asshole...methinks there's something WRONG with the utilities and that the seller (and realtors) are trying to HIDE that by turning them off. Because THAT makes sense.
It's just about time to throw in the towel. My Dad wants to speak to his lawyer friend tomorrow first before we tell the realtor that we're no longer interested. Because there still is a chance that if the utilities are turned on and the inspector can finish the inspection that the house might still be worth the price. But it's a slim chance and I'm not going to hold onto that hope like I did in the beginning of this venture.
That was incredibly boring to read, wasn't it?
So after avoiding the realtor all day Sunday and refusing to answer the phones at work lest he call me there, I had my Dad call the listing agent. Because, I hate to say it, but sometimes he's able to get further than I can because of my age and complete real world inexperience.
So he asked the listing agent (who is a customer of ours) if there's any way for the water/electricity to be turned on to complete the inspection. And Lucy, the agent, felt "uncomfortable" talking with my Dad and recommended we call the agent who showed me the house (John).
In the mean time, I trekked into the ghetto to Town Hall and paid $25 to run a search of the properties Certificates of Occupancy (permits needed in order to have work done on the house such as renovations or changes to the utilities like the plumbing etc.) There are COs for the back dormer and front dormer but none for the extension on the back of the house. This means that the seller probably did the work himself or hired someone who wasn't licensed to do it for him. Either way it means that a permit is needed to buy the house and I'd have to pay for it. And the biggest issue is that the town would send a building inspector to look at it and if it wasn't up to code then down it would have to go. That would include the 2nd kitchen as it is part of the extension. Also, there isn't a permit for the oil burner. Any time you move something like that you have to get a building permit from the town and have a licensed plumber/oil company do the work for you. There's no record of that, meaning there can be some pretty big violations as to whether or not the seller followed proper guidelines. Since the burner is located in the detached garage behind the house, pipes had to be laid underground. And they'd need to be at least four feet under to be below the frost line so the pipes wouldn't freeze up during the winter. Who knows what these people did?
So John the realtor calls while I'm at town hall and later again when I'm back at work. But I'm still 'not there' so I wait for him to call me cell and leave a message. He does. And so I call my Dad and ask him to call John back and bring up the missing permits and such.
John says that they sent someone to the town to get a list of permits (I don't believe that for a second), yet couldn't come up with an answer when my Dad says that I went as well and found there to be no CO for the extension or a permit for the oil burner. So he doesn't say anything very intelligent in response.
So then my dad brought up the issue with the turned off utilities. And John said something along the lines of 'the reason you're getting this house for such a great deal is BECAUSE the electricity and heat are turned off'.
WTF?!?! Great Deal?!? The house is listed for 299,000 and I offered 302,500. I might not have done well in math growing up but I DO know which of those two numbers is larger.
John said that IF the utilities were turned on then they'd have a lot more people interested in the house and the price would be much higher.
No asshole...methinks there's something WRONG with the utilities and that the seller (and realtors) are trying to HIDE that by turning them off. Because THAT makes sense.
It's just about time to throw in the towel. My Dad wants to speak to his lawyer friend tomorrow first before we tell the realtor that we're no longer interested. Because there still is a chance that if the utilities are turned on and the inspector can finish the inspection that the house might still be worth the price. But it's a slim chance and I'm not going to hold onto that hope like I did in the beginning of this venture.
That was incredibly boring to read, wasn't it?